BattleBots Controversies
While BattleBots is known for mostly being a relatively decent source of entertainment, it is not without controversy. Below are examples of moments on TV that were controversial one way or another. DO NOT post moments that "in your opinion" are controversial, or are controversial by the fans. These MUST be events from TV only and must be truly controversial as a whole. Season 1.0 Pressure Drop vs Subject to Change Without Reason When Subject to Change Without Reason stopped working in the final seconds of the bout, Pressure Drop continued to move and managed to land one hit after the buzzer. Builder and driver of Subject to Change Without Reason Randy Eubanks was very upset and highly disagreed with Derek Young's claim. Season 2.0 Revision Z vs Atomic Wedgie During this super-heavyweight battle, Atomic Wedgie's tri-foil got tangled with Revision Z's rubber tail, which was designed to stop spinning weapons. This led to both robots to pull and push each other around for the remainder of the fight. The judges awarded the 27-18 win to Atomic Wedgie when visually Revision Z was doing much more work than Atomic Wedgie, which had lost drive on one side early in the fight. Season 3.0 Killerhurtz vs HexaDecimator Partway through this bout, Killerhurtz launched an attack on HexaDecimator with its axe such that the axe got caught in HexaDecimaor and the match was halted just as Killerhurtz was taking HexaDecimator to the pulverizer as per the rules. BioHazard vs Son of Whyachi As the Heavyweight finals match between BioHazard and Son of Whyachi came to a close, BioHazard stopped moving for a 2nd time, which led to it being counted out after it only came back to life with drive on one side. The clock had been stopped with 10 seconds left and after a discussion was made, the match became a judges decision. Gamma Raptor vs Mouser Mecha Catbot During the fight, Gamma Raptor got a lift under Mouser Mecha Catbot and slammed it into the wall under the pulverizor, flipping it over. Mouser tried to self-right and started taking hits from the pulverizor. Builder and driver Fon Davis declared a tap out but the pulverizor kept landing hits until the match was called. Season 4.0 Whirligig vs Carnage Raptor In a similar event to Mouser vs Gamma Raptor, Whirligig fought against Carnage Raptor and was also disabled under the pulverizor but even after Whirligig was counted out, the hammer kept falling, even after the referee said to stop. BattleRat vs Nightmare A fight that went the distance but the BattleRat team were not happy about losing the decision to Nightmare and audibly protested that the decision was wrong, as well as refusing to shake Jim Smentowski's hand Season 5.0 Diesector vs Vladiator A rematch between Diesector and Vladiator that lasted half as long due to an arena breach but the fight was edited to remove any hints of this, leaving the viewers to believe it was a 3-minute bout when it wasn't. ABC Season 1 Complete Control vs Ghost Raptor This fight had a pretty bad starting point as Complete Control was seen carrying a gift-wrapped box when it prepared to face-off against Ghost Raptor. The box ended up containing a net that was released when Ghost Raptor's blades ripped open the box. This lead to a discussion between the referees and the builders as the rule had always previously prohibited the use of nets and entanglements but Derek Young had said it was "a gray area" that did not mention nets specifically. Overhaul vs LockJaw A battle between an experienced Donald Hutson with Lock-Jaw and newcomer Charles Guan with Overhaul ended in controversy when Donald Hutson accidentally delivered a late hit after the buzzer sounded. This led to Adam Bercu, an Overhaul team member, refusing to shake hands while taking the bots out of the arena and Charles Guan refusing to shake hands as well after the judges decision and discussing the matter on-camera. ABC Season 2 Discovery Season 3 Yeti vs Icewave The match was a quick one that ended with Icewave delivering a solid hit that knocked Yeti out. As Yeti was being counted out, Icewave drove along side Yeti and accidentally clipped Yeti's wheels, causing minor damage but making Yeti's driver and builder Greg Gibson very upset. Discovery Season 4 Quantum vs Blacksmith Blacksmith was placed against a newcomer with immense crushing power. As a result, Blacksmith added extra armor called AR 500 in attempt to save the robot from major damage. This didn't work out and proved to be a problem for Quantum as they were unable to release. This left Al Kindle upset and wondering if they were going to be released.